


Indestructible

by otppurefuckingmagic



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Battle, Canon Compliant, Canon Fill In, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Missing Scene, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 11:23:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6468277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otppurefuckingmagic/pseuds/otppurefuckingmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec and Magnus fighting together on Brocelind Plain</p>
            </blockquote>





	Indestructible

**Author's Note:**

> so this is a first for me. i’ve never written anything that could strictly be called canon compliant, and this is my attempt at that…
> 
> this takes place after the accords hall kiss, when alec and magnus go into battle together on brocelind plain using the alliance rune. because i needed to see alec and magnus fighting together.

Alec’s palm burned with the remnants of Magnus applying the alliance rune, but not as brightly as his cheeks. The portal outside the Accords Hall glistened and Angel Square was packed as they awaited the order to move to Brocelind Plain.

Next to him, Magnus couldn’t stop smiling despite that they were going into battle. “I know you made me a different kind of deal, but that can technically count as introducing me to your family. I think they’re well aware of who I am to you now.”

Alec resettled his quiver on his shoulder, arching an eyebrow. “You think?”

“Do you regret it?”

“No,” Alec answered without hesitation. He didn’t know yet what the fallout would be for kissing Magnus in front of everyone in the Accords Hall, but he didn’t care. There was a possibility none of them would live through the night as it was. Even without that very real threat, Alec hadn’t been able to waste another second without acknowledging who Magnus was to him.

Alec shook his head emphatically. “I don’t regret it at all.”

Magnus’ face brightened at that. He reached out and tucked an errant strand of hair behind Alec’s ear. “I can do that whenever I want now.”

Alec could only duck his chin and smile in response. The thrill of having Magnus’ fingers grazing across his skin—no longer tainted with the worry of discovery—was short-lived, though. Thoughts of what they were facing tonight weighed heavy as he glanced at Magnus’ shimmering portal. “Just be careful out there. I’ll have your back.”

Magnus looked offended, as if someone had just stepped on Chairman Meow’s tail. “I’m here to defend _you_.”

“Magnus, I know you like to have your ego stroked and you _are_ much more powerful than I am, but I need you to use your magic to defend yourself.”

“My ego has been thoroughly stroked by you today, nephilim.” Magnus settled his palm on Alec’s neck, his cat-like grin mischievous. But his features sharpened in the next breath, his vertical irises contracting with intent. “Listen to me. You can do things long-distance with that bow, and those runed arrows, which I can only do up close. The farther we keep the danger from everyone else—including us—the better. You work and I’ll make sure you have the space. If things get bad I can make a protective…bubble, of sorts, around us, but they’re difficult to create. I can only do that once before I’m drained completely.”

“Just tap into my strength rune when you need to,” Alec said. He took Magnus’ hand and ran his finger along the lines he’d marked on Magnus. “That’s the point of _this_ rune.”

Magnus furrowed his brow. “You can’t be drained either.”

“My stamina rune works for other things,” Alec pointed out, heat crawling up his neck.

Magnus bit at his lip. “Like a marathon laundry session? My dirty clothes have been piling up since you left.”

Alec chuckled. “You are…something else.”

“There are rumors I’m yours—”

“May I borrow what is yours then, big brother?” Isabelle interrupted as she approached them.

Alec scrunched up his face. “I don’t speak for Magnus.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “Can I talk to you for a moment, Magnus?”

Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand, then he and Izzy moved away from the crowd to the Accords Hall steps.

Alec began to fidget as soon as he was alone. With Magnus at his side he didn’t worry about anyone confronting him. No one was brave enough to provoke a dangerous warlock. He tried to keep his shoulders back—to stand tall, and channel some of Izzy’s confidence or Jace’s unapologetic swagger, but he wasn’t them. He found his gaze darting around the gathered Shadowhunters, searching for his parents.

They hadn’t sought him out since the kiss, and he hadn’t expected, or wanted, them to. That they would be okay—let alone happy—about this development with their son was unlikely, but Alec had been prepared for that.

That kiss hadn’t been for them.

Before he could find either of them in the mass of black gear and shining seraph blades, Magnus was at his side again.

“Everything okay?” Alec asked.

“Yes.”

Alec knew Magnus was lying, but let it go. At the portal entrance, forces were stepping through. A quiet settled over the Square and Alec sucked in a deep breath.

He took Magnus’ hand in his—alliance rune against alliance rune—and they walked into Magnus’ portal together.

****

They stepped out of the portal into madness.

The nephilim who’d gone through the portal before them were already embroiled in hand-to-hand combat, the scent of copper and the bitter acidity of ichor thick in the air.

They were no longer joined at the hand as they appeared on Brocelind Plain, but Alec felt Magnus at his back. Alec lifted his bow, sparing a second to consider how much more intimate this connection with Magnus felt than his parabatai bond ever had, then he was releasing the first of his arrows into the demon-darkened sky.

“Someone forgot to give Valentine a copy of the rules,” Magnus quipped, and there was a burst of blue sparks that fell over Alec’s head.

Alec notched another arrow, but the demons were too close and descending fast. If he and Magnus stayed where they were, Alec wouldn’t be able to use his arrows at all. He had to get to higher ground. He scanned the horizon, seeking the best point of attack.

“Magnus! I need to get up to that ridge.”

“Give me a moment, dearest. I can’t kill and create in the same breath.”

Alec shouldered his bow and drew out his seraph blade, whipping around and slicing the arm off a demon whose claws were only inches away from Magnus’ face. He sneered and slashed upwards, driving the seraph into the demon’s chest. “Take all the time you need. _Dearest_.”

Magnus huffed, then a gate was opening in front of them and Magnus’ hand was on the small of Alec’s back urging him forward. Alec barreled through it, grasping at Magnus’ wrist to make sure he followed.

Alec stumbled on the rocks that were suddenly under his feet as they reappeared on the ridge. A demon was on Magnus’ heels, teeth sinking into Magnus’ biceps as the portal closed off behind them. Magnus smashed his arm into the demon’s face, and brought his free hand up, blue sparks flying off his fingertips and sending the demon soaring off the edge, spearing him on the rocks below.

Alec’s own arm burned where the demon’s teeth had been in Magnus, but he didn’t have time to study Magnus’ wound himself. He sheathed his blade and lifted his bow, fighting past the shared pain and the worry that made his stomach roll, and began to pick off the flying beasts that dived towards them. “Are you okay?”

Magnus removed a vial from a pocket and downed the contents. “I’m fine.”

This time Alec knew Magnus was telling the truth because he felt Magnus’ strength returning himself.

“Good. I’m running out of arrows. Anything you can do to help me out with that?” Alec heard a _snick_ and felt the reassuring weight of his quiver on his back. He glanced at Magnus. “That’s a tactical advantage.”

“I’ll fill your quiver any day—“

Alec cut him off with a smile. “Not now, Magnus.”

Alec felt Magnus’ power flowing through his hands when he brought back his bow this time, magic singing in his veins. His vision was clearer and his reflexes were faster. He wasn’t reacting, he was anticipating.

Alec worked to fell the demons on the battlefield—to eliminate the hell-born forces crashing down on the Downworlders and Shadowhunters fighting together—and Magnus’ magic burst around him, working to keep Alec safe while also enhancing Alec’s abilities and refilling his quiver as soon as the runed arrows hit their mark.

Alec was aware he had the better end of this partnership. So for every five arrows he loosed, he would reach out to give Magnus more of his strength. Restoring Magnus power reserves became the simple act of a touch with the rune. Palm to palm, a touch that was grounding and yet electric.

Alec’s arrows flew farther, faster and with even more accuracy because of Magnus’ power. Magnus called out where certain demons needed to be hit in order for the shot to be fatal, and Alec didn’t have to track their path to know he was on target. The bursts of light and the steady stream of ash falling on the battlefield was enough of an indication.

But no matter how many of them Alec killed, the wave of demons descending from the sky was unrelenting.

“We live through this, I’m taking you to Portugal,” Magnus yelled over his shoulder.

Alec hesitated, trying to understand what Magnus was telling him, and a demon keened as it swooped down at Alec. Alec let an arrow fly, dispersing the hellion in a cloud of sulfur that made Alec’s eyes sting.

“What?” he yelled back.

Magnus laughed. Only he would find something to laugh about in the midst of battle. “Portugal. The language is impossible—more difficult than a centuries-old, obscure demonic tongue. But the food will make you swoon.”

Alec smirked and notched another arrow. “Deal.”

****

Magnus had been in battle before. Not always by his own choice, and a few times because he’d stumbled in the wrong direction, but never any fight like this.

The vision he’d shared with Clary—of a world turned crimson with blood—wasn’t far off from what he was witnessing now. Magnus tapped into Alec’s vision rune, surveying the plain. Downworlders and Shadowhunters were being torn apart. The once placid expanse was stained with puddles of red, black sludge, and the glinting white of bone in the moonlight. This would become their daily reality if Valentine was allowed to gain more power.

It was a world Magnus couldn’t bear for Alec to be a part of.

He’d thought he’d been prepared for the bond Clary’s rune would create between him and Alec, but he hadn’t. Not at all. It was as if he carried two hearts in his chest. He felt Alec’s heartbeat as if the organ sat inside him. A steady, focused thrum that didn’t sync up with Magnus’, but reassured him nonetheless. As long as Alec’s heart was beating Magnus would continue fighting.

He’d been worried about Alec’s ability to handle himself in battle, but he wasn’t now. Alec didn’t show any signs of slowing. He didn’t seem to be aware of the holes in his gear from the ichor that rained down on them. His exposed skin was covered in burns and Magnus had to resist the urge to divert his power to healing Alec. Care would come later, he reminded himself. Survival came first.

Alec’s ink-black hair fell across his eyes and stuck to his forehead from the sweat gathered there. Magnus used just a hint of magic to sweep it back so Alec’s hands could remain where they needed to be. He thought briefly about pinning Alec’s hair back with a glittery barrette, and the mad thought was enough to bring a lightness back to Magnus’ step.

Alec’s focus was unerring, his blue eyes scanning the horizon, his bow an extension of his body. Alec was graceful in battle. And Magnus was content to keep his entire focus on Alec and protection of said body.

Magnus was beginning to think they were indestructible together, then Alec fell to his knees dropping his bow. Magnus took a step toward him, searching through their alliance bond for where Alec was injured. But he couldn’t find any indication of a physical wound, just a deep grief as Alec’s heart beat erratically, out of step and on the edge of panic.

Alec’s eyes were nearly black when he looked up to Magnus, his voice sorrow-worn. “Jace can’t be dead.”

Magnus held off a demon with one hand and used his other to look under the ichor-burned fabric of Alec’s sleeve without him knowing. The parabatai rune on Alec’s forearm was merely a shadow.

He thought of Izzy somewhere out there, tracking Jace with a location Magnus had given her and hoped she was okay.

“I’m sorry, Alexander, but you have to get up. Izzy can’t lose you too.”

Alec clutched his arms to his chest and rocked forward, closing his eyes.

Magnus dropped to his knees, sending everything he had outside himself, encircling the two of them in a warded shield so that nothing could get through. “Alexander. Get up. _I_ can’t lose you.”

****

Alec crumpled. Doubled over. His connection to Jace snapped.

His eyes went wide as he stared at the battle below him, but all he really saw was Magnus. “Jace can’t be dead.”

It was a plea. He was begging for Magnus to tell him he was wrong, but he knew.

Jace was dead.

“I’m sorry, Alexander,” Magnus said, his tone eerily clear amidst the maelstrom seething around them. “But you have to get up. Izzy can’t lose you too.”

Max.

Now Jace.

Alec held back a sob and tried to shut it all out.

He felt the rocks around him shift as Magnus crouched down next to him.  “Alexander. Get up. _I_ can’t lose you.”

Alec sucked in a breath and opened his eyes to find his world glowing blue. He blinked. Heard crashing noises and the gnashing of teeth and looked up to find he and Magnus surrounded by a wall of blue light—and at least twenty demons bashing themselves against it to get through.

Alec’s skin crawled with dread as he realized what he’d forced Magnus into doing. He pushed down his grief. There was nothing he could do for Max or Jace now. But he couldn’t allow Magnus to die too. “No, Magnus. No. You said you could do this once and you’d be completely drained.”

“I’m aware.”

Alec surged to his feet. “Take it down now!”

“Keeping it up takes considerably less effort than building it. It’s already there. I’ll hold it as long as I can.”

Alec swore under his breath and kicked at the rocks under his feet, sending them careening over the edge of the ridge, past the wards. He gaped and turned to Magnus again. “Can I get a blade or arrows through it?”

Magnus was sitting criss-cross on the ground now, blue light pouring from the tips of his left hand. He was curved forward, the color gone from his skin. He peered up at the demons, dark rings already appearing below his eyes. “I don’t know.”

Alec unsheathed his seraph blade and drove it hard through the shield—meeting resistance he had to put his weight and his fury behind. The tip broke through and buried into the demon’s chest, and it wailed, becoming ash scattering on the wind.

Alec stepped back and outstretched his hand to Magnus. “Give me your hand. Take what you need from me to keep this going longer and I’ll kill as many as I can. Give us a fighting chance.”

Magnus clenched his jaw, his lips now white, and shook his head. “I won’t take anything more from you—”

There was a high-pitched screeching and the furious beating of wings and Alec whipped his head around, going into a defensive stance.

Alec squinted, trying to see past the wavering images created by Magnus’ wall. He lowered his blade, staring in disbelief. “Are they retreating?”

****

Magnus fell back against the rocks and fought the urge to close his eyes.

He hadn’t known how much longer he could hold the barrier up, but Alec had insisted the demons were gone—that they had all suddenly vanished—and as much as Magnus couldn’t believe that was possible, Alec had said it. So he believed it.

There was the crunching sound of boots on rock, then Alec was sitting next to him and pulling Magnus onto his lap. “What do you need me to do? The alliance rune is starting to burn away, but I may still be able to transfer over some of my strength rune to you.”

Magnus could still feel Alec’s heart beating away in his chest, but the sensation was fading. The thought had him moving as much as he could, curling into Alec’s side so he felt Alec’s warmth, reassured that Alec was alive and okay.

“Too tired to fight you,” Magnus mumbled. “But too tired to draw anything from you.”

Alec sighed.

Magnus crinkled his nose and tried not to inhale too deeply. Alec smelled awful—too much like Magnus’ father’s dimension—and the burns in Alec’s gear were all jagged edges and unpleasant lumps against Magnus’ skin, but Magnus wasn’t moving until someone forced him to.

Alec threaded his fingers through Magnus’ hair and began to rub his head, knowing that Magnus ended up with a splitting headache when he expended too much of himself. Magnus wanted to purr he was so grateful.

“You have any more of that potion you used earlier?” Alec asked in a quiet voice.

“Really should’ve known to pack for the apocalypse when I came here. Trouble finds you, Alexander.”

“No sarcasm,” Alec chided him. “It uses too much energy. And trouble finds Jace, not me.”

“Jace is—”

“Alive. Yeah. I don’t know what that was. He’s weak but definitely alive. I had to have imagined it. He must’ve been badly wounded instead….”

Magnus knew what he had seen, but he couldn’t be bothered with anything that had to do with the golden boy right now. Magnus made a noise that he hoped sounded somewhat encouraging.

Alec ran his thumb over Magnus’ jaw, then kissed his forehead. “Come on, Magnus. Let me take you home.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr @otppurefuckingmagic ♡ xx


End file.
